Quotes of the day

posted at 9:00 pm on April 23, 2011 by Allahpundit

“For President Obama, critics who question his U.S. citizenship are becoming a joke.

“Last night in Los Angeles, Obama spoke with donors about the early days of his 2008 campaign, back when “the prospect of electing a Barack Hussein Obama to the Oval Office was slim.”

“‘None of you asked for my birth certificate,’ Obama said. ‘It was a complete leap of faith.'”

***
“Highlighted in yellow on page 1,218 of the thick binder is the computer-generated listing for a boy named Barack Hussein Obama II born in Hawaii, surrounded by the alphabetized last names of all other children born in-state between 1960 and 1964. This is the only government birth information, called ‘index data,’ available to the public.

So far this month, only The Associated Press and one other person had looked at the binder, according to a sign-in sheet viewed Wednesday in the state Department of Health building. The sheet showed about 25 names of people who have seen the document since March 2010, when the sign-in sheet begins…

“[The] original birth records typically include additional birth details, such as the hospital and delivering doctor, said Dr. Chiyome Fukino, the state’s former health director who twice looked at and publicly confirmed Obama’s original long-form birth records.

“But those documents are state government property that can’t be released to anyone, even the president himself, said Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the state attorney general. Obama would be able to inspect his birth records if he visited the Health Department in person, but original records of live birth are never released, he said.”

***
“[The] theory first emerged in the spring of 2008, as Clinton supporters circulated an anonymous email questioning Obama’s citizenship.

“‘Barack Obama’s mother was living in Kenya with his Arab-African father late in her pregnancy. She was not allowed to travel by plane then, so Barack Obama was born there and his mother then took him to Hawaii to register his birth,’ asserted one chain email that surfaced on the urban legend site Snopes.com in April 2008.

“Another early version of the theory, reported by the Chicago Tribune in June 2008, depended on a specious legal theory that was, for a time, the heart of the argument: that Obama was born in Hawaii but had a Kenyan father, and his mother was only 18 years old. Therefore, under existing immigration law, he was not eligible for automatic citizenship upon birth — a claim that depended on an understandable, but incorrect, reading of immigration law. Other theories suggested that Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when he moved to Indonesia or visited Pakistan in violation of a supposed State Department ban as a young man. (There was no such ban.)…

“Ironically, the birther movement didn’t really take off in earnest until the Obama team tried to debunk it.”

***
“The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is raising funds off efforts by opponents of President Obama who have questioned his place of birth…

“‘Republican governors, eager to score political points, keep these myths alive by refusing to unequivocally say that birtherism isn’t true and that they won’t sign any bills trying to undermine our president,’ reads the appeal from DGA Executive Director Colm O’Comartun. ‘Since they won’t act, it’s up to us to make sure they know the American people are watching.'”

***
“The reality is that ‘facts’ are unlikely to mean much to those who believe in their gut that Obama is not American. Political psychologists call this ‘motivated reasoning.’ It goes something like this: I dislike someone; I learn something positive that should make me feel better about him; instead, I dislike him as much or even more. This is clearly irrational, but our feelings about people are complicated, and we tend to hold on to them even in the face of contradictory information. This is not unique to those who dislike Obama.

“We are all somewhat impervious to new information, preferring the beliefs in which we are already invested. We often ignore new contradictory information, actively argue against it or discount its source, all in an effort to maintain existing evaluations. Reasoning away contradictions this way is psychologically easier than revising our feelings. In this sense, our emotions color how we perceive ‘facts.’…

“So the smart bet is that the birthplace issue, the Muslim issue, and any other ways in which Obama can be portrayed as outside the mainstream are not going away. And no amount of data to the contrary will change that for some people.”

***Flashback: “I don’t understand why the Governor doesn’t just say ‘snap it up . . . send me a copy right now.’ And why doesn’t the President just say ‘send me a copy right now.'”

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Blowback

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I have been so tempted to fire up me weed-eater and unleash that whirling weaponry and run ruin on her vegetative state of blissful ignorance. Hopefully some kind soul with a garden weasel will save me the trouble.

Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air’s community of registered readers. Please don’t assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.

This is the most provocative QOTD evah. Who said this? Excuse my ignorance; I’ve been out of the loop panning for gold in the Mojave.

So how did Barry get a passport or did I miss that along the way? I had to send in my original BC from Cook County when I applied for mine. No copies allowed.

Knucklehead on April 23, 2011 at 9:41 PM

You do not have to be a natural born American citizen to get a passport. The fact he went to Pakistan when US citizens were not allowed to go there makes many think he went there with a Indonesian passport.

“But those documents are state government property that can’t be released to anyone, even the president himself, said Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the state attorney general. Obama would be able to inspect his birth records if he visited the Health Department in person, but original records of live birth are never released, he said.”

This is the next part that I really, and for true, expect to hear from such officials:

The official then went on to say that they have never heard of photostatic copying machines, film cameras, digital cameras, nor any other means in which an original can be kept in a bound book but a copy made that can be authenticated by officials at the Health Department.

‘As we do not have the means or technology to copy and authenticate a copy, we are at a loss to providing the anything that substantive in the way of this document to demonstrate that it is actually here, held by the Health Department and transmit the informationn it contains.’

For most a digital image with print-out, notarization and signature of the head of the records division of the Health Department would be good enough. A cheap digital camera and small color printer? Less than $1K, total. Cost for the copy is that of consumables. The time to check it over and sign it is free as that is part of government’s job.

This entire concept of ‘imaging’ was known in the 19th century.

The first fax machine dates to the mid 19th century.

Photography was born in the 19th century with silver halide film and before that other substrates were utilized.

While a copy is not a legal document, any signed document IS a legal document and an original signature on a copy makes that copy a legal document especially when done by an official.

Now if we could only convince the legislature of HI to join the 19th century, this ‘problem’ could be easily solved. I know it is difficult to join the Industrial Age, but they could, at least, try to do so.

The fact he went to Pakistan when US citizens were not allowed to go there makes many think he went there with a Indonesian passport.

IowaWoman on April 24, 2011 at 6:27 AM

Do you REALLY beleive this long ago disproved tripe?

Here is the letter form the US Counsel General to Pakistan who wanted to “Welcome an Influx of Americans” to visit. The only thing that did exist was a travel advisory stating if you intended to stay beyond the limit of your 30 day visa you would need to check in with the forefinger registration office.

Will you all fall for anything? Never mind the answer to that question is obvious.

One thing about Obama’s Certification of Live Birth is it doesn’t look contemporaneous (written/published at the time of his birth). Indeed the facts seem to suggest it’s a later condensation of information presented at his birth. And we’re told there is a longer, more informal “long form”, which some humans have obviously seen, that is half typed, half written. What people want, especially in the case of the President, is authentic documents produced at the time of his birth. That’s not asking a lot. The short form seems to white-wash this whole question.

Keep lashing out and making excuses as to why a coke snorting marxist who happens to be commander in chief shouldn’t have to release his life’s records. AP and the rest of the apologetic so-called conservative media are despicable. Worse than the non-thinking zombies who voted for this charlatan. Grasping at any lifesaver thrown to them by the obots. The register entry could have been made if a foreign birth was registered or even doctored. It proves nothing except the lengths the man and the useful idiots in the media will go to in making excuses for his obvious obfuscation. Nothing to see here, move along.

Am I a birther if I believe he was born in Hawaii? I think there is something else to hide (not location of birth) and I can’t wait to see what it is. Should be a really good laugh and must be very embarrasing.

With the help of a few useful idiots like Trump, the media and the left will keep this issue alive as long as possible.

mike_NC9 on April 24, 2011 at 9:25 AM

A problematical assumption for several reasons.

There is an equal if not greater countervailing pressure by the Left and media to deny and discredit “birthers” and the birther assertion. This more than balances the debate (even puts the birther position in the underdog role) and at least partly disables Alinsky’s rule in this case.

Second, the citizenry is increasingly cynical and distrustful about the media and the ruling class elite (the anti-birthers). We know they lie to us. We have lots of evidence, and more each day. A certain presumption of corruption (and benefit of doubt in favor of distrust) is a given in the culture. The anti-birther position plays into this growth industry.

Third, Trump has been careful to frame his argument as one of both reluctance and reasonableness. He’s careful not to accuse Obama of anything, merely to ask why he doesn’t release it and indeed why he spends large amounts of money not to. These questions do not strike people as extreme or conspiratorialist. They resonate. It is nothing like the “truther” suggesting George Bush was responsible for 9/11 — an assertion that was never — and could not ever be — framed as “reasonable.”

The MSM/DEM meme is to make anyone who has ANY question about the BC into a total vast collection of people at the FARTHEST exreme, that is, that they ALL believe he was born in another country. Anyone who has ANY interest in seeing a photostatic reproduction of the ORIGINAL BC ( like the ones of the NORDYKE twins, who were born the next day, that can be seen at the WND site, who by the way went to pre-school with him ) is lumped in with people who believe that he was born in KENYA, etc.

Third, Trump has been careful to frame his argument as one of both reluctance and reasonableness. He’s careful not to accuse Obama of anything, merely to ask why he doesn’t release it and indeed why he spends large amounts of money not to. These questions do not strike people as extreme or conspiratorialist. They resonate. It is nothing like the “truther” suggesting George Bush was responsible for 9/11 — an assertion that was never — and could not ever be — framed as “reasonable.”

rrpjr on April 24, 2011 at 10:18 AM

Except …”I have investigators there and they can’t believe what they are finding!”

For the left it’s an excuse to keep asking what they found, if nothing…Trump = Snake oil salesman.

For the Right, its not quite..but almost a promise of proof of some new insight. If he does not produce they will recognize they have been punked…

Trump is boxed into producing something now, from both sides, it’s not just in President Obama’s court.

The fact he went to Pakistan when US citizens were not allowed to go there makes many think he went there with a Indonesian passport.

That’s not right. Americans were allowed to enter Pakistan in 1981. But Colonel Obama had no US passport at that time, so the best guess is that he used an Indonesian passport. While the US recognized dual citizenship, Indonesia did not, so if he obtained an Indonesian passport he did something which renounced his US citizenship, assuming he had any in the first place.

You do not have to be a natural born American citizen to get a passport.

Colonel Obama has one now and he should use it to travel somewhere overseas, and stay there.

Will you all fall for anything? Never mind the answer to that question is obvious.

NextGen on April 24, 2011 at 8:20 AM

Why the personal attack instead of taking the time/making the effort to show people why/how you believe they’re wrong about their Birtherism? Nevermind, the answer to that question is obvious – you’re too conceited, impatient, and intellectually lazy to bother, shortcomings you Anti-Birthers express by choosing to insult rather than to respectfully converse and educate. Studying the psychology of Anti-Birthers would be more a lot more interesting and fun than studying that of Birthers, wouldn’t you agree? :)

If you had the requisite patience and concern, you’d dazzle us all with a plausible explanation as to why credible people with nothing to hide would ever have cause to perpetuate blatant lies which are effortlessly disproven. This time, the blatant lie is the one Hawaiian officials have been stating about how certified copies of LFBCs haven’t been available to the end-public in Hawaii since 2001. Since when did they say, you ask? Hmmmm…surprisingly contradicting what they’ve been telling us recently, up until early June of 2009, the State of Hawaii itself told residents how to get certified copies of their LFBCs. Then, for some curious reason, they changed the site. Weird, huh? You’re just chomping at the bit to provide for all us the rational explanation for the apparent, but not actual, mystery as to why numerous people in Hawaii have shown copies of their LFBCs online and/or related stories that they’ve claimed to have received them since early June of 2009, too, aren’t you? :)

If you were game, you’d explain to the rubes here why 0bamessiah’s had the justifiable need to obfuscate His past so excessively. Not only has He spent money in court to fight off the efforts of some who’ve asked to see further evidence of His Presidential eligibility, He let one man, Lt. Col. Lakin, get court-martialed and go to jail instead of providing what Lakin desired of Him in that regard. What normal, well-adjusted, mentally healthy person with nothing to hide would do to Lakin what 0bamessiah did over something so relatively trivial? Nevermind, the answer to that question is obvious.

The “birther” thing would have died down, but Obama and the DEMs, enjoyed themselves too much gloating and ridiculing, didn’t Alinsky say s’thing about continuing s’thing TOO LONG and it would then flip to the reverse? This thing now has a life of it’s own and it’s GOING MAINSTREAM. He/they couldn’t resist teasing so much it won’t die down by itself.

Call me a “Birther” if you like, but I fail to see how a computer printout entitled “BIRTH INDEX” proves that the births thus indexed took place in Hawai’i, given that the state law provides for birth certificates to be issued for babies that were not born in the state:

[§338-17.8] Certificates for children born out of State. (a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.
…

So anything that doesn’t explicitly say “born in Hawai’i” means only that the parents were HI residents when the child was born/adopted.

Anyone who pretends that any index of HI birth certificates proves HI birth either does not know about this law, or knows about it and is dishonestly ignoring its implications in evaluating HI birth records.

I have never seen any of the people who dismiss “birtherism” even acknowledge this fact. How can we have an honest discussion of the evidence that allegedly proves where Obama was born if that discussion ignores this law?

Of course Obama is subconsciously validating birthers’ arguments. He knows that on his long form Hawaiian birth certificate is a box, regarding the baby’s father, which says: “[Father’s] Place of Birth. Island, State, or FOREIGN COUNTRY”.

If Obama’s purported ‘father-of-record’ – Barack Hussein Obama is named on the birth certificate, that ‘place of [father’s] birth’ box says ‘Kenya’.

With Obama’s father’s birthplace of Kenya appearing on a LEGAL DOCUMENT, it’s proven that Obama is not the child of two US citizens, meaning he is not a natural born citizen, and is therefore not eligible for POTUS.

Only one thing would give him eligibility: produce a valid document proving his father-of-record became a naturalized US citizen before the day of Barry’s birth. And we all know such a document does not exist.

Parse EVERYTHING Barry says – just as conservative pilgrim has so effectively done.

Why the personal attack instead of taking the time/making the effort to show people why/how you believe they’re wrong about their Birtherism?

Bizarro No. 1 on April 24, 2011 at 11:31 AM

So the person I wrote to said this…

The fact he went to Pakistan when US citizens were not allowed to go there makes many think he went there with a Indonesian passport.

IowaWoman on April 24, 2011 at 6:27 AM

To which I took the time and effort to show them why they were wrong on the fact..

Here is the letter form the US Counsel General to Pakistan who wanted to “Welcome an Influx of Americans” to visit. The only thing that did exist was a travel advisory stating if you intended to stay beyond the limit of your 30 day visa you would need to check in with the forefinger registration office.

To which you say…

instead of taking the time/making the effort to show people why/how you believe they’re wrong about their Birtherism?

Isn’t the real question — is he a natural born citizen who never gave up his US citizenship?

tarpon on April 24, 2011 at 11:55 AM

Sure is.

The question of the exact definition of “natural born citizen” has never been answered – can someone who’s admitted father was a British subject be one? A lot legal precedent says “no”, but apparently we’re not allowed to ask that question.

Putting that aside, there’s the troublesome trip to Pakistan in 1981. A FOIA request to the State Department turned up no records of Soetoro AKA Obama having a US passport prior to his becoming a US Senator (when one would automatically be issued to him). Which begs the question – which nation’s passport did he travel under? He was adopted by his Indonesian stepfather when his mother remarried and resided there for a long time, so the logical choice would be he had an Indonesian passport. However, that would have been an affirmative act of renouncing his US citizenship. But we’re not allowed to ask that question either.

The fact he went to Pakistan when US citizens were not allowed to go there makes many think he went there with a Indonesian passport.

IowaWoman on April 24, 2011 at 6:27 AM

To which I took the time and effort to show them why they were wrong on the fact..

I guess you aren’t aware that you attacked IowaWoman in your corrective post (“Will you all fall for anything? Never mind the answer to that question is obvious”) before she ever had the chance to correct herself. How could you possibly have known how she’d react to your correction ahead of time? Are you so stupid to believe that everyone labeled “Birther” is the same kind of of thinker, and has the same motivation? Nevermind, the answer to that question is obvious. :)

To which you say…

instead of taking the time/making the effort to show people why/how you believe they’re wrong about their Birtherism?

/boggle…

NextGen on April 24, 2011 at 12:08 PM

Seeing how painfully, yet comically, obtuse, shallow, and unobservant you are, I’d only have been shocked by your response if you hadn’t ‘boggled’! :)

If birtherism is such a joke, then why are Trump’s numbers skyrocketing and Zero’s numbers tanking? If the birthers are nuts who will just help make the POTUS a sympathetic figure, then why isn’t that sentiment showing itself in polls?

joejm65 on April 23, 2011 at 9:14 PM

..indeed. And why is this thread some 400+ posts for an Easter Sunday?

I fear that he may just be playing us to distract attention to his ultra-pathetic performance.

But those documents are state government property that can’t be released to anyone, even the president himself, said Joshua Wisch, special assistant to the state attorney general. Obama would be able to inspect his birth records if he visited the Health Department in person, but original records of live birth are never released, he said.

Riddle me this: why are there pictures of other people’s long form Hawaii birth certificates from the 1960s on the Internet, if this were true?

Riddle me this: since when can’t the POTUS have his own birth certificate produced for the public?

Yes heads explode when people make stupid comments that are then supported by stupid comments (yours. The next lie we will debunk today kids…. quoting the cost of the entire campaign legal fees as a specific to defending birther claims.

Come on, don’t you all have *anything* factual….please, debunking the stupid is much less fun than discussing real, factual positions.

The question of the exact definition of “natural born citizen” has never been answered – can someone who’s admitted father was a British subject be one?

Lynch v. Clarke, 3 N.Y.Leg.Obs. 236, 1 Sand. Ch. 583 (1844),

“6. Upon principle, therefore, I can entertain no doubt, but that by the law of the United States, every person born within the dominions and allegience of the United States, whatever were the situation of his parents, is a natural born citizen.

Amendment XIV Section 1.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

UNITED STATES V. WONG KIM ARK, 169 U. S. 649 (1898)

That all children born within the dominion of the United States of foreign parents holding no diplomatic office became citizens at the time of their birth does not appear to have been contested or doubted until more than fifty years after the adoption of the Constitution, when the matter was elaborately argued in the Court of Chancery of New York and decided upon full consideration by Vice Chancellor Sandford in favor of their citizenship. Lynch v. Clark, (1844) 1 Sandf.Ch. 583.

A lot legal precedent says “no”, but apparently we’re not allowed to ask that question.

A lot of legal precedent says “yes”, but apparently you ask the question anyway.

Putting that aside, there’s the troublesome trip to Pakistan in 1981. A FOIA request to the State Department turned up no records of Soetoro AKA Obama having a US passport prior to his becoming a US Senator (when one would automatically be issued to him). Which begs the question – which nation’s passport did he travel under?

He was adopted by his Indonesian stepfather when his mother remarried and resided there for a long time, so the logical choice would be he had an Indonesian passport. However, that would have been an affirmative act of renouncing his US citizenship. But we’re not allowed to ask that question either.
Rebar on April 24, 2011 at 12:29 PM

Yes heads explode when people make stupid comments that are then supported by stupid comments (yours. The next lie we will debunk today kids…. quoting the cost of the entire campaign legal fees as a specific to defending birther claims.

Come on, don’t you all have *anything* factual….please, debunking the stupid is much less fun than discussing real, factual positions.

NextGen on April 24, 2011 at 3:08 PM

It’s only a Birther claim, and a misrepresention of the truth, to bring up like I did that 0bamessiah has spent money on court costs as He’s resisted others’ legal efforts to get Him to produce more evidence of His eligibility? LOL! Since the specific $ amount He’s spent isn’t, nor ever was even, a concern of mine at all, I thank you for shamelessly committing a logical fallacy yet again – you just can’t help yourself, can you? :)

As I said before, you are too conceited, impatient, and intellectually lazy to care to have an impersonal, impartial discussion of the facts surrounding 0bamessiah’s publically-invisible LFBC – you argue like typical Lefties who aren’t interested/can’t comprehend any thoughts or factoids which don’t fit into their predetermined beliefs. Noticing this, I’ll tell you that you, like the Lefties I mentioned, simply are too stupid for me to debate, seriously. I want to let you know that if I do decide to address you again, it will only be to make fun of you, because I know you won’t indulge topics which make you uncomfortable, one such as exploring why Hawaiian officals would continue to blatantly lie about the ‘non-availability’ of certified copies of LFBCs in their State to the end-public since 2001, should I? :)

If President Obama is a natural born citizen, why did Nancy Pelosi have to sign the certification form that allowed Obama to run for President when the Hawaiian Democratic Party refused to sign?

The Hawaiian Democratic Party refused to sign off on a certification that Barak Hussein 0bama II was eligible to be president. Instead, Nancy Pelosi herself signed that Hawaiian certification. The possible reason: the attorney who approved all legal paperwork that required signatures by the HDP just happened to be the same attorney who handled 0bama’s mother’s divorce from her Indonesian husband. That attorney had seen 0bama’s original long form birth certificate.

This also means Pelosi committed fraud by certifying 0bama’s eligibility.

We should be trying to beat this turkey on the merits. This Birther stuff is a “Silver Bullet”, that will magically make his go away, if true. The problem is, the more we concentrate on the Silver Bullet, the less attention we pay to the task at hand, which is fielding a candidate we can all live with that will beat this guy like a drum at the polls.

This should not be a difficult task. Even with a Billion dollars and the MSM running interference, this guy should be easy to beat. He has completely bollixed the economy and his foreign policy in incomprehensible. We should be winning this race at a walk, and we’re off in the weeds looking for a Silver Bullet.